The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 July 2024
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Infanta, Quezon, 2020.
We’re back on this lazy but blessed Sunday when our gospel is about rest, “Jesus said to his apostles, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while'” (Mk. 6:31).
And we thank God for the gift of music that is the easiest, most affordable and most rewarding manner of rest for us next to prayer and the Mass. Most of all, see that every song, every musical piece is always about love who is God Himself!
For this Sunday, we go back to 1977 with Roberta Flack’s romantic ballad The Closer I Get to You that is more than a song of love but a story of love in itself.
According to Ms. Flack, it was her manager David Franklin’s idea that she record a duet of that song with her college friend Donny Hathaway who was then suffering with clinical depression. Both have worked together earlier in several duets. As a way of helping her friend get over his depression, the song was re-written while Ms. Flack had to make a lot of sacrifices in recording and shuttling between New York City and Chicago where Hathaway was confined to a hospital and had refused to travel.
Hathaway never recovered from his depression and eventually died a few years after the release of their duet in 1978 that became an instant hit, earning praises and had them nominated for Grammy the following year.
Ms. Flack said in an interview that their duet would always be her dedication to Hathaway as she donated all the money earned from that song to Hathaway’s widow and two children.
As we have mentioned in our homily today, rest is getting closer with God and the closer we get to Him, the closer we get with others. That is why Jesus was moved with pity to the vast crowds who have followed them to a deserted place to rest: His oneness with the Father moved Him closer to people especially the poor and the suffering. And that is why we find The Closer I Get to You perfect with our gospel this Sunday: the more we get closer with Jesus, the more we get closer with our family and friends and those in need.
The closer I get to you The more you make me see By giving me all you've got Your love has captured me
I love that first stanza of The Closer I Get to You; it says the very essence of the song which is a gospel in itself. It reminds us of St. John’s first letter when he wrote, “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us” (1Jn.4:12).
The more we get closer with anyone, the more we love, because the more our eyes are opened to see others to love. And God becomes more present among us!
It’s a Sunday, go celebrate the Mass and enjoy some beautiful music to remind us of God’s presence among us. Here now is The Close I Get To You…
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 July 2024 Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:1-8
Photo by author, somewhere in Bgy. Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite, 27 April 2024.
When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord… Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life” (Isaiah 38:1-2, 4-5).
God our Father, help us to put our house in order; give us the courage and strength to put our lives in order by sincerely admitting our sins with a firm resolve to turn away from them and live the gospel of Jesus your Son.
Let me put order to my spiritual life by cultivating the discipline to pray daily keeping that relationship with You; let me put order in my life by seeking ways to be more loving with others than finding their faults; let me put order in my life by being less judgmental of others to be more charitable and understanding.
Like Hezekiah let me accept my fate, let me accept death: "In the noontime of life I must depart! To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years" (Isaiah 38:10); how wonderful that without praying for his healing but for the grace to accept your will, You healed Hezekiah and prolonged his life to serve You more than ever. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church, 15 July 2024 Isaiah 1:10-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1
Photo from The Valenzuela Times, 02 July 2024.
On this blessed Monday, your word "bring" invites me to examine what I bring:
“Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me” (Isaiah 1:13).
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Matthew 10:34).
Teach me, O Lord, to bring your peace and justice, to bring your truth and light so that I may bring that much-needed balance we are searching in life.
Like St. Bonaventure, help me to bring myself before You, dear God in prayers, to immerse myself in your words in the scriptures so that I may bring together the ideal and practical, the spiritual and material.
Many times, O Lord, we bring our very selves, it is our ego and pride we love to bring everywhere for everyone to see, forgetting that we must first bring You back into our hearts, bring You back into our minds, bring You back into our lives so that we can finally bring out the best worship of You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 July 2024 Hosea 14:2-10 <*[[[[><< + >><]]]]*> Matthew 10:16-23
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to then Lord; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls” (Hosea 24:2-3).
Loving Father, let us "take words" with us this Friday, words of contrition for our sins, words of true repentance, words begging your mercy, words that are sincere not empty words; many times in this world of social media, we multiply words, we shout words, we alter words to give new meanings that suit us; many times our words are mere words, never bearing fruit, could not even stand because they are not true; like Jesus your Son, teach us to "enflesh" our words, let our words to You be translated into realities of conversion and loving service for one another.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20).
Let us heed your words, Lord Jesus Christ, for us to be "shrewd as serpents and simple as doves" by learning to be silent to let the Holy Spirit speak through us; in this noisy world with so many competing words and sounds, it has become indeed a persecution to be silent; it is more difficult to be silent to await your words, Lord; it is always easier to speak and add to the cacophony of deafening and hurtful words against each other than to just listen to our hearts, to listen to your words of love and mercy; like the psalmist, let my mouth declare your praise by awaiting your words first, not mine. Amen.
Congratulations, our dear graduates this academic year 2023-2024! As you mark the completion of your studies, may I ask you again why did you go to school? Why study at all?
As usual, we get those varied answers of going to school like to have a bright future by securing a better paying job or, as others would readily admit it, in order to get rich and a host of other reasons that are far from the truth because one does not need to earn a diploma to get a job or even get rich. Look around you.
Remember, my dear graduates, we go to school in order to become a better person, a better man, a better woman. That is what we mean with that slogan “Rise to the top!” here at Our Lady of Fatima University; that we may become “man as man”, truly human guided by our mottos, Veritas et Misericordia.
Problem in this age of too much social media is how people have become more lost than ever in themselves. So many have become so alienated with their true selves as they get confused with reality and with virtual reality. Puro tayo palabas, wala nang paloob as everything has become a show including our lives.
Look inside your hearts and find Jesus Christ for only in Him can we find fulfillment in life like Matthew in our gospel today:
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9).
After this Mass, check Google. Search Caravaggio’s painting, the call of St. Matthew. Caravaggio was the same artist who painted “The Incredulity of Thomas” when the Apostle met the Risen Lord Jesus Christ eight days after Easter.
One thing you will notice in Caravaggio’s paintings are the interplay of light and darkness that seem to converse with the onlookers. In the call of St. Matthew, Caravaggio painted the scene so typical of his own time with Matthew and other men inside his office wearing clothes of the Middle Ages while Jesus passing by at the other end of the painting dressed in exactly the way during His time. Jesus was portrayed in a side view, calling Matthew who was seated and surprised, asking Jesus if he was the one being called. You could read the face of Matthew asking Jesus, “who, me?” while Jesus was gently looking at him with firmness, saying, “yes, you Matthew. Follow me”.
First thing we learn from this painting is how Jesus continues to come to our own time and situation, right where we are seated like with Matthew. As Jesus pointed His finger to Matthew while calling him, Matthew pointed too his finger into his heart to ask Jesus if he was the one He was referring to. It is a lovely scene telling us how Jesus invites us daily to welcome Him in our hearts, telling us to take a look inside our heart to find Him. Tumingin tayo palagi paloob sa ating sarili, hindi palabas o sa labas gaya ng social media na dinaraan lahat sa likes at kung anu anong mga emoticons. Paramihan ng followers basta trending at viral maski pangit. Pagkatapos, wala na. Hungkag pa rin tayo. Walang laman. Empty.
Now, look at this photo uploaded last night by The Valenzuela Times after that flash flood yesterday afternoon in front of our medical center along McArthur Highway. You must have seen it too.
How did you react? Did you laugh at the man carrying on his back his girlfriend while crossing the flooded street?
How sad that many netizens laughed at it with many having pressed the LOL emoticons with some calling the “gurl” as OA, saying “naglakad na lang sana sila magka-holding hands, hindi pinahirapan yung guy”. At least, some were honest to admit their envy, saying, “sanaol”!
That is the sad reality in our time when people laugh at others doing something good like sacrificing or simply being honest. Have we forgotten all about God and others just like the message of the Prophet Amos 3000 year ago of how people turned into sin and evil, trampling on others especially the poor which continues to happen today?
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the containers for measuring, add to the weights, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!” (Amos 8:4-6).
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
My dear Fatimanians, as you get closer to achieving your dreams, as you move on to the next phase of your studies and formation here in our University, remember always the lessons and life of our Patroness, the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the three children to whom she appeared in Fatima, Portugal more than 100 years ago.
Mary remained faithful to her Son Jesus Christ, accompanying Him up to the Cross. The three visionaries of Fatima did the same, praying and sacrificing a lot to get the Blessed Mother’s message of conversion across. In their young age, they did not mind what others said about them from May 13 to October 13, 1917, remaining faithful to Jesus with Mary by being good and obedient children.
It is always easy to look good and kind in social media. It is always so easy to speak of so many lofty plans and ideals, of how we want to change the world but we forget to look inside our hearts, into our true selves. Like the Pharisees in the gospel today, they saw themselves as the best and the holiest whom Jesus should keep company with, not the sinners like the tax collectors that included Matthew.
Many times in this age of so many platforms of communications, we tend to exaggerate the truths, of clamoring for so many things like inclusiveness everywhere when in the process, they have actually become so exclusive! Many times, people exaggerate the truth presenting themselves as disadvantaged and victimized when in fact it is far from reality. Many people are advancing so many things these days when in fact they are actually promoting themselves. Many are exaggerating the truths when they are actually exaggerating themselves.
Heed the words of Jesus to the Pharisees, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Mt. 9:13).
It is not enough to know and get what we want but what does God desire for me? You will never go wrong in life when you follow God than men or women who could just be exaggerating themselves. Handle your life with prayer, my dear Fatimanians. As I have told you since I came here in OLFU, always remember to “study hard, work harder, and pray hardest.” God bless you all!
Love is more than a feeling; it is a decision we make and renew daily especially when expressed in marriage. It is indeed very difficult but the most wonderful thing about being human. That is the reason why the first miracle of Jesus happened at a wedding in Cana and not in any festivity in the temple or a synagogue.
When couples love and keep that love alive, they level up in their existence, becoming holy like God because love, after all, is a gift from God. To be holy in a state of life is not being sinless but simply being filled with God, being open to God, to His surprises in order for us to believe in Him more and continue to love more.
Do not let divorce thwart this beautiful gift and plan of God to many men and women He calls to share in His love in marriage. Divorce will never solve the problems of married couples as it does not consider the spiritual and deeper human aspects of married life. Divorce is just intent on ending marriage that eventually result to more problems especially to the children.
Here is our sixth wedding homily exactly a year ago when my nephew Immi exchanged “I do” with Pat at the Manila Cathedral. We hope this may lead others to a deeper appreciation of marriage being a gift from God we have to care and protect.
All praise and thanksgiving to God our loving Father for this day, Immi and Pat! This is the day God had set to be your wedding day. Not last year, not next month nor any other day except this seventh day of July 2023.
Jesus Christ said in our gospel today, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (John 15:16).
Surprised? Yes, Immi and Pat, you have both felt God surprising you many times since you met each other, mysteriously weaving your lives seamlessly together that today you are before Him at this altar to pledge your love for each other.
That is what I wish to share with you this afternoon: keep that element of surprise in your lives together, Immi and Pat. Never lose that sense of wonder because it is when we are surprised that we start to believe; when we believe, we get closer and then we love. The more we love, the more we are surprised and the more we believe until that love matures into more than feelings but a decision and commitment to love until death.
Hindi ba, Immi and Pat, that is why you are here today because you have finally decided to grow together in this love because you believe in each other and most of all in God?
There were many occasions you were both surprised at the twists and turns in your lives as individuals, beginning at how you got to know each other in the office.
Hindi naman love at first sight iyon. Hindi nga kayo magka-type pareho kaya nag-aasaran kayo palagi.
Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
You were opposites but the more you were surprised in discovering new things about each other, the more you gravitated to each other, the more you believed in each other, surprisingly realizing that actually, you are not opposites but shared a lot in common.
That’s when you became good friends caring for each other, conversing more often with topics getting deeper like plans and views in life until one day, Pat had so much of these surprises as she juggled many things in her life and asked to speak with you, Immi, to avoid confusion and complicate things further in your friendship.
Wala pa siyang sinasabi maliban sa “mag-usap tayo” and you just told her, “Let’s go out on a date”.Iyon na yun! Kayo na! Dehins na hangout, date na. Wow, tamis!
The problem in our time is that everything, everyone is exposed. Even overexposed!
With social media all around us, everything is shown and displayed for all to see, leaving no room at all for surprises.
Many people these days want everything to be certain. Lahat segurista na ngayon.
No more surprises, no more faith because many of us have stopped believing. Remember, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). That is why, when we are surprised, we believe; as we believe more and get surprised more, we love.
Immi and Pat, always have faith, believe and be surprised with each other and with God.
The world tells us, “to see is to believe” but our faith teaches us, “believe so that you would see.” Remember when Jesus told Thomas a week after Easter, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed “(John 21:29b)?
Keep that childlike attitude in you of being surprised always, of having that sense of awe and wonder. That is why kids believe and trust always.
Photo by author, 2019.
Being surprised is being open with the simple realities of life, of the joys of being alive and sharing this life with a special someone in love. Being surprised is being open to getting hurt because we believe there is that special someone who would always take care of us, with whom we can be our true selves no matter what. Being surprised is being open to the realities and ecstasy of loving and of being loved in return. Being surprised is believing in God who is a God of surprises because he loves us so much.
In the Book of Genesis, we find Jacob falling asleep at Bethel with a stone as his pillow, dreaming of a stairway to heaven. It was so good because he saw God and his angels ascending and descending the stairway to heaven that upon waking up, Jacob had that sense of wonder and awe, “Truly the Lord is in this spot, although I did not know it!” (Gen.28:16). Jacob was surprised. Then he believed. And loved and served God. In 1971, we heard Jimmy Page and Robert Plant singing, “makes me wonder” over and over in their hit Stairway to Heaven.
But, Edith Piaf said it best in 1946, of how she was surprised in finding love with her classic song La vie en rose. No, I will not sing it but will just read it to remind you God’s many surprises for you, Immi and Pat.
I thought that love was just a word They sang about in songs I heard It took your kisses to reveal That I was wrong, and love is real
Hold me close and hold me fast The magic spell you cast This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me heaven sighs And though I close my eyes I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart I’m in a world apart A world where roses bloom And when you speak, angels sing from above Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me And life will always be La vie en rose.
Immi and Pat, God has a lot of surprises for you. Remain faithful with each other, remain faithful to Jesus Christ who has called and chosen you. Have Christ always between you in your relationship. Pray, believe and have trust in Him so you both would see more surprises, more life, more love in your married life. God bless you, Immi and Pat! Amen.
For those wishing to listen and perhaps use this classic piece, here is its English version.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 08 July 2024 Hosea 2:16,17-18, 21-22 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Matthew 9:18-26
Thus says the Lord: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart… I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord (Hosea 2:16, 21-22).
Praise and glory to You, God our loving Father! Lead us back to You, lead us back to the desert - to that state of dryness, of emptiness, of nothingness for us to find and experience You again; lead us to the desert, Father, for us to feel our heart again that You are our first love after all!
Forgive us, Father, when life is in abundance we are filled of our selves we forget You and others; when life is affluent, we disregard what is right and just, we become so greedy with nothing enough; when life is going on smoothly without problems, we disregard love and mercy as we see more of things than persons as we veer away from You, sinking into infidelity, not knowing You.
I do not ask for too much pain and suffering; just something enough to knock our heads like that father in the gospel and woman suffering hemorrhages for 12 years who both felt so isolated from the rest like in a desert to realize there is only You in Jesus Christ to restore us back to life, back to community, back to our real selves and back to You. Amen.
It’s been more than four years since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic that threw many of us out of sync in life, especially those planning to get married during those critical years of 2020-2022.
I had four weddings affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns in that period; three were postponed but I was able to officiate at the two weddings when reset to another dates except the first one that did not fit my schedule. The fourth wedding I was not able to officiate because I got the virus and had to be isolated.
This is the homily I delivered at one of those three weddings postponed I officiated, between Cris my former student at the Immaculate Conception School for Boys (ICSB) in Malolos City and Tim whom I met when they were going steady while we were all taking MA courses at UST.
More funny than that was the fact Cris and Tim have planned of getting married in 2020 but have to move it to 2021 due to the pandemic; but, when COVID still persisted that year, they finally fixed their altar date to early 2022. Alas! Just as they were all set in January 2022, the church was closed on the week of their wedding after its priests got the virus!
Cris and Tim were at a loss when their wedding would finally take place until they were offered by the parish the date February 22, 2022 after the weddings of those others postponed like them. I told them to go for it than wait further for other dates lest they in turn get the virus too!
Looking back to their wedding day, I have realized how God always finds ways in helping married couples in all their problems for as long as they are willing to cooperate. This is why we cannot allow divorce to be legalized in the country for God never fails in His grace and blessings. We just have to work on them.
From stillromancatholicafteralltheseyears.com, January 2022.
You must have heard the saying that “God writes straight crooked lines”. And today that proves so true not only with how God wrote so crooked His straight lines in your life, Cris and Tim, but even wrote in circles to make this date your wedding day – 22 February 2022!
Cris and Tim, God has always been so sure in calling you before His altar on this date, which will similarly happen again in 200 years – 22 February 2222! God writes straight crooked lines because everything in him is perfect, like numbers. Precise and exact. Like this date you never chose, 02-22-2022.
When you consulted me last month when priests here offered you this date due to their recent lockdown, right away I told you it is the most wonderful date for your wedding being the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair… St. Peter as in San Pedro like Cristopher Tabafunda San Pedro and later, Mrs. Fatima Macam San Pedro!
It was God who willed in all eternity that you, Cris and Tim, be married today — not last year, not the other week nor next week because today is the day that the Lord has made!
Cris and Tim are both very prayerful and good, practicing Catholics.
You are both good with numbers like God, a mathematician who is very precise and exact like an economist and stock trader (Cris) and a marketing and sales executive (Tim) who used to do a lot of chemical research before.
But God has better and deeper plans for you that numbers cannot count nor quantify.
God wants you to always go back to basic numbers, not to those found in equations only you two can understand or multiple digits only you can count.
Jesus said it so well in the gospel today: two is equal to one. So mathematical ba?
Photo by author, 2021.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”Matthew 19:5-6
Life is not about having the most but the least. That is where faith grows and deepens.
When we have so much in life, when we feel so sufficient, when we are so filled with things, we forget God. We stop believing in him, we believe more in ourselves.
And when we stop believing in God, we lose our faith and then, we stop loving, too. Sooner or later, we become empty and miserable.
So, be simple, Cris and Tim.
Reduce everything to the barest and simplest. Simplify, simplify, simplify as Henry David Thoreau said: “let your affairs be two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand.”
When we get complicated like our Facebook, life becomes difficult as we can’t find right away who and what matters most to us.
Kaya nga isa lang ang asawa, Cris at Tim, kasi hindi puwede marami.Hindi lang magulo. Magastos pa. Imagine kung dalawa o tatlo wedding rings? Pag isa lang, kita agad at alam na this – married na ang mamang ito na may cute na dimple o itong girl na ito na naka glasses at dalawa pa ang dimples! Hayaan ninyo sabihin ng mga makakita singsing ninyo na sayang at taken na pala siya!
You see, the lower the number, the simpler, the better. Madaling tumaya at manampalataya.
That’s faith! Parang PBA game kung saan kayo nagkakilala. And you have both experienced, walang tatalo sa faith in God ninyong dalawa!
God is greater and more than the numbers the wiz kids and supercomputers of the world can calculate and predict. His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways. He first created just one man and one woman – just two – to be one with each other in Him, and to be faithful to Him and each other.
Because the more we become faithful, the more we become loving.
That is the message of this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter which is the “Primacy of Rome” or of the Pope: it is the primacy of faith and the primacy of love together which cannot be separated.
Chair of St. Peter in Rome, from Wikipedia.
Forget all those numbers Cris and Tim, focus only in the One – God in Jesus Christ. Just focus on Jesus, always Jesus.
Love is not about counting or keeping tabs and tallies, like how many “likes” and “followers” we get in our posts.
The true measure of love is when we love without measure, when we simply love, love, love. And love.
That is why we only have one heart so we can love with all our heart. Forget Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko. It is just a song.
When you have LQ (lover’s quarrel), who should blink first, or smile? Who should take the first move to reconcile, the first to offer the hand of peace?
Whenever lovers and couples or even friends quarrel, I always say, whoever has more love to give must be the first one to initiate reconciliation, the first to blink, or smile, the first to offer the hand of peace.
To have the most love to give and share does not mean to be better or superior than the other; to have the most love to give and share is to have more faith, to have a deeper faith the he/she is ready and willing to lose everything for the sake of the loved one.
Like Jesus Christ who gave everything for us on that Cross because of love.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Twelfth Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 23 June 2024 Job 38:1, 8-11 ><}}}}*> 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ><}}}}*> Mark 4:35-41
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.
From examples of trees in the forest and sowing of seeds in the fields last week, our readings this Sunday situate us at the middle of the sea with a raging storm to remind us of God’s immense power and most of all, love and care for us in Jesus Christ. Right away we get that hint from our short first reading:
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garments and thick darkness its swaddling hands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!” (Job 38:1, 8-11).
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.
Nothing so struck humans since time immemorial as the sea that is so immense, seemingly without limits. It has been so loved yet dreaded with many literatures around the world teeming with all kinds of stories about the sea’s many mysteries that still baffle us in this age of computers and satellites. Experts say that big ships and jumbo jets are so minuscule compared with any area of the sea where they could still get lost like the missing Malaysian Airlines not too long ago.
That is the imagery of the sea, similar with life itself that is lovely to behold yet frightening with many mysteries and dangers. Life like the sea must be crossed and lived out to experience its boundless beauty, joys, and gifts waiting to be discovered by those willing to have faith in Jesus who assures us today that He had come to accompany us in crossing this great sea of life with His love and power.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm (Mk.4:37-39).
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, 15 April 2024.
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Most likely we have also asked God the same question especially when everything seems to be so wrong in our lives with God seemed to be so far from us, not caring at all. That was the situation of the fictional character Job we have in the first reading. Towards the end of the book, God assured Job that as the Creator of this universe, He is in control of everything in this life. This became more real in the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, our Emmanuel or “God-is-with-us” that Mark showed in his story of Christ’s calming of the sea.
See Mark’s details as so weird and exaggerated to show us that even in the worst scenarios in life, God is present in Jesus Christ. Remember that Mark wrote his gospel account to inspire and strengthen the faith of early Christians persecuted and felt exactly like the disciples in the boat caught in a violent squall with nowhere to go except to Jesus soundly asleep in the stern on a cushion.
Both the incident at the sea and the persecution of early Christians must be so terrifying, reminding us of the times we felt the same way too in many instances in our lives like when the whole world stood still during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.
This was the same gospel scene Pope Francis used in his reflections at the special Urbi et Orbi benediction in March 2020 at the start of COVID-19. That surreal scene of an empty St. Peter Square with the Pope alone limping his way to the altar was so much like this scene in the gospel. How sad that four years after crossing modern history’s stormiest sea, many have forgotten while others refuse to recognize that it was Jesus who pacified the virus that caused the pandemic.
Jesus reminds us today that He is always in the boat, silently sailing with us in this stormy sea of life. Do not expect Him to be like most stage mothers or protective parents who keep on interfering in the lives of their children especially when there are difficulties.
During a vacation in Canada more than a decade ago, I noticed the big difference between Filipino and Canadian parents when relatives brought me to experience “apple picking”. While waiting at the entrance, I observed how Canadian parents simply looked at their children playing, never intervening except when kids were hurt and started to cry. So amazing at how the parents would just smile and carry their children to comfort them, so unlike Filipino parents who acted like Secret Service agents watching, reprimanding every move of their children. Worst was when children got hurt and cried as parents scolded them! – which continues even after their children have all grown up with families of their own. Maybe we never progressed as a nation because so many of us have never really matured as individuals partly due to our “stage parents”.
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee, May 2019.
Going back to the boat caught in a violent squall in the middle of the Lake of Galillee, see the dramatic contrast of Jesus soundly asleep in the stern while His disciples were deep in anguish and fears. Like those Canadian parents I have observed, Jesus prefers to be silent during storms in life than to interfere so that we would grow and mature in our faith and prayers, becoming stronger inside and out.
Instead of frantically shouting and scrambling on what to do like the disciples in the boat when trials come our way, let us go inside to Jesus in the stern, no need to wake Him up nor speak. Simply stay, be still and be one with Him in prayers, trusting Him more than anyone.
That’s how we are transformed into better persons by letting Jesus live inside our hearts, the stern of our boat.
To let Jesus live in our hearts is to live in love of Christ despite the many storms and darkness we encounter like St. Paul who implored us in the second reading, “Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died (2Cor.5;14).
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon, 2023.
St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is his most personal letter where he poured his heart out in response to the nasty talks hurled against him. Throughout this letter, we find St. Paul narrating all the trials and sufferings he endured in following Jesus that led him to experience Christ’s love in the most personal way that gave him the conviction to live in Christ, to love Christ. Hence, his call every Paulinian knows by heart, Caritas Christi urget nos.
Last Sunday, Mark portrayed God’s presence in Jesus Christ among us like the seed sown in the field that grows without us knowing how, always present among us. Today, Mark portrayed Jesus present among us in exaggerated manner like sleeping in the stern while the boat filled with many leaks crosses this sea of life in a violent storm. How interesting that in crossing the sea – on the Cross itself – Jesus reconciled us with God, with others and with our very selves so that we may pass over and cross to the other side of life and love in Christ. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, cast away our fears in this sea of life we cross filled with darkness and storms; many times, our boat is filled with many leaks of our sins but You chose to stay with us, sleeping soundly in the stern; teach us to be silent, to trust You more when the going gets rough and tough like during an exam: You are our Teacher, You know all the answers, You are silent because You want us to learn, You want us to pass. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious, 21 June 2024 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 6:19-23
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
On this Friday, Lord Jesus Christ, there are two things I pray: give me a pure heart and eyes like a lamp.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be (Mt. 6:19-21).”
Help me realize, Jesus, that to "store up treasures in heaven" is not just to pile up a lot of good works in heaven that will be to our credit in the next life for they too can be lost when we slide down into sin and evil; rather, like in your beatitudes, give me a clean or pure heart that is like yours, that is inclined to You always; a clean heart, O Lord, is not of "doing" but of "being" and "becoming" that truly becomes a treasure, something we value most.
How sad in this world so materialistic that many believe there is nothing money cannot buy, nothing money cannot solve even though this belief is proven false all the time!
Cleanse our hearts of pride and sins, fill it with your humility, justice and love, Lord Jesus! Dwell in our hearts, reign over us!
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be” (Mt.6:22-23).
Give us that light and vision, Jesus to see the most essential, the most valuable in life that are beyond wealth, fame, and power; free us from the darkness and blindness of not seeing beyond material things so we may discern the real treasures, what is most valuable in this life like You and others, love and peace and joy. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
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